Is Chicho Gayo a geisha coffee variety at the 2022 BOP?
At the 2022 top-tier Panama green bean competition, Chicho Gayo from Hartmann Estate set a new high-score record in the Traditional Group, raising the question of whether it is a Geisha variety. It had been disqualified the previous year, which adds to the interest in this year's result.
The event was held under the theme "We are Regions," with the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama emphasizing environmental protection and grower effort. Extreme weather across Central and South America damaged coffee trees, and increased rainfall harmed root systems, affecting yield and quality for many producing regions.
The results of the 2022 Best of Panama (BOP) green bean competition have been announced. Beyond the rankings of each estate, one coffee bean that broke the historical high-score record in the Traditional Group—Chicho Gayo from Hartmann Estate—has sparked heated discussion. Is it actually a Geisha variety? Why was it disqualified last year, yet this year won the Traditional Group championship? This article will take you deep into the origins of this coffee bean, the story of its variety cultivation, and its connection to and differences from Geisha. At the same time, we will also share the overall performance of this year's BOP event under climate challenges, as well as Front Street Coffee's attention to and recommendation of this bean. Whether you are a coffee enthusiast or a industry professional, this article will unveil the mystery of Chicho Gayo for you.
"The results of this year's Best of Panama (BOP) green bean competition have been announced!" I believe many friends, upon hearing this news, immediately went to check the award-winning estates and rankings.
In addition to the final competition results, there is also a "big news" this year that shocked all the judges and even set a new historical record, which I want to talk about with everyone.
First, a brief introduction to the BOP (Best of Panama) green bean competition. Those who already know about it can skip this part and go directly to the content below～
The theme of this year's event is "We are Regions." The Specialty Coffee Association of Panama hopes that through this theme, it can further emphasize the importance of environmental protection and also make everyone aware that behind an excellent coffee, the hard work of growers and producers is indispensable.
Since the end of last year, extreme weather has frequently occurred in Central and South America, and coffee-producing regions in many countries have been affected to varying degrees. Severe climate not only destroyed many coffee trees, but the subsequent increase in rainfall also damaged the root systems of the surviving coffee trees, further affecting coffee yield and quality.
Coffee yield and flavor formation are inseparable from the roots of the coffee tree. Only when the root system is sufficiently developed and absorbs enough nutrients can it produce more flowers and bear more fruit.
In addition to wind disasters and increased rainfall, climate warming has also caused many coffee trees to "act contrary to common sense," not only flowering and fruiting earlier, but also ripening faster than in previous years. But this is not a good phenomenon. Although the fruit looks ripe, its nutritional content will be less than that of fruit ripened at a normal time, and the flavor of the coffee beans will also be compromised.
Therefore, the number of samples participating in this year's BOP event decreased from more than 169 in previous years to 133. Many estates regrettably could not participate in this year's competition due to insufficient yield or quality not meeting expectations. Although the number of participating samples decreased, many of them still performed quite wonderfully!
Among this year's contestants, the final average scores of 4 Geisha Group samples exceeded 95 points, and for one natural-process Geisha, a judge even gave 100 points!
In addition, among the Traditional Group samples, after cupping and the preliminary announcement of results, quite a few judges anonymously shared on social platforms that a non-Geisha variety sample received a high score of 94 points (also setting a new historical high-score record for the Traditional Group)! Its complex floral and fruity flavors amazed the judges present, and some even suspected that a Geisha Group sample had been mixed into the Traditional Group.
Obviously, it had not! In the end, this sample became the champion of the Traditional (multi-variety) Group. It was the Chicho Gayo/Gallo coffee bean from Hartmann Estate. According to the owner of Hartmann Estate after the competition, this is a coffee plant from the Amara Gayo region of Ethiopia, and the variety name was later given by members of the Hartmann family.
The "ancestor" of Chicho Gayo, like the Geisha variety (not specifically referring to the T2722 Geisha we know today), was sent by Ethiopia in the 1930s as a conventional exchange variety to laboratories around the world for cultivation and research. By the 1960s, research laboratories around the world had crossbred and cultivated hundreds of excellent coffee varieties, and began allowing growers in various places to introduce them for local cultivation or further crossbreeding.
But Chicho Gayo is not a variety that came directly out of these laboratories, but rather the product of crossbreeding among these varieties. The owner of Hartmann Estate also stated that this variety is a new variety cultivated by the Hartmann family over 15 years through cross-pollination, and the parent seed is a variety that underwent natural genetic changes in order to adapt to Panama's terroir.
Once a variety is cultivated, it does not amaze people from the very beginning. Its discovery is also like when Daniel, the owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda, discovered Geisha back then—through continuous cupping comparisons year after year to search for it, and boldly showing its charm to the world, it gained the fame it has today.
It can be seen that truly excellent coffee that can astonish everyone does not appear out of thin air. Its excellence is inseparable from the variety, from favorable timing and conditions, and from the efforts put in behind the scenes by the growers.
The owner of Hartmann Estate stated that they had already submitted coffee samples of Chicho Gayo last year to participate in the competition, and at that time BOP selectors were also amazed by the flavor of this coffee bean. However, because the overall flavor was too close to the Geisha variety, it was suspected that a Geisha-like flavor had been added to the Traditional Group sample. Out of concern for fairness to other samples, the Chicho Gayo sample was disqualified from the competition.
But this year, Hartmann Estate submitted a genetic comparison between Chicho Gayo and the Geisha variety to ensure that the variety would not cause controversy. BOP judges also realized that not only the Geisha variety can have enchanting floral and fruity flavors, so this year they allowed the Chicho Gayo variety to participate in the Traditional Group competition.
This year's Chicho Gayo coffee flavor performance is somewhat close to the champion Geisha of Hacienda La Esmeralda in 2004. The champion Geisha back then had notes of rose, bergamot, mango, black tea, and so on, while this year's Chicho Gayo exhibited flavors such as rose, jasmine, yellow peach, and bergamot.
Some industry insiders have discussed that the Chicho Gayo variety may surpass Geisha, and some are worried about the future of Geisha. But in fact, the two do not conflict. Only by continuously breaking through the already defined "ceiling" can specialty coffee develop further.
When Geisha first appeared, it made more people begin trying light roasting, and everyone also felt more layers of coffee flavor, but this did not affect the demand for dark-roasted coffee beans. The emergence of single-origin coffee made more people willing to try pure coffee, but it also did not affect the demand for espresso.
There is no need to worry too much about the future of Geisha coffee. The times iterate forward, and the god of the times will also progress accordingly.
Front Street Coffee will also continue to pay attention to the performance of new varieties such as Chicho Gayo. If there is a chance to obtain this bean in the future, we will also share our cupping impressions with everyone as soon as possible.
Image source: Internet
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
